This is my very first Criminal Minds story! Yay! I got hooked on the show over the summer with reruns, and now I am freaking out and cannot wait for the new season to start! Emily's coming back and so is JJ!
Definitely Morgan/Garcia at the end, and Hotch/Emily and Reid/JJ if you squint. Beginning is Kevin/Garcia, but I'm definitely making Kevin into a jerk.
Enjoy!
The FBI annual Christmas Ball was coming up, and the invitations had been sent out months in advance so no one in the BAU had been able to get out of it. And bringing a date was strongly recommended, if not required, even if it was just a friend.
So, of course, the three BAU girls got together and started planning. JJ and Garcia managed to get Hotch and Emily alone at the perfect moment and he asked her to be his date at the Ball, and she happily agreed. And then Emily and Garcia shoved Reid into the conference room that JJ was about to enter and Reid somehow managed to audibly ask JJ to the Ball and she grinned and said yes.
But when Emily and JJ tried to get Morgan to ask Garcia, something went wrong.
"Hey baby girl," Morgan said, knocking on Garcia's door and leaning casually against the door frame.
"Hey there Hot Stuff. What can I do ya for?" She asked, swiveling around to face her Chocolate Adonis.
"Well, this stupid Ball thing is coming up, and since we're basically required to have a date, you wanna go with me?"
"You-you're asking me to the Ball?" She asked in disbelief, and when he nodded with a shrug she raised her eyebrows. "Why?"
"Because we're pretty much required to have a date and neither of us do," He said with a chuckle, and Garcia felt her hackles rise.
"So that is the only reason," She stated, her eyes going flat, cold and narrow.
"Well, of course I want to-"
"Did it ever occur to you that just maybe a guy might've asked me just because he likes me? Just for that simple reason,"
"Garcia," He protested, and she stood up, hot fury now dancing dangerously in her eyes.
"I may be the girl you take only when you absolutely have to and you have no other options, but to other men I am their first choice!" She spat, pushing past him towards the door that meant freedom from the stifling room.
"Who?" Morgan demanded, grabbing her arm. She ripped her arm out of his grasp and snapped,
"Not that it's any of your business, but Kevin Lynch," Garcia all but screamed and she gave him a hard shove and stormed out of the room, furious tears glittering in her eyes.
JJ and Emily were standing outside of her office and Garcia looked at them, saying angrily, "Matchmaking is the stupidest thing we have ever done!"
She stormed off, fighting back tears but being unsuccessful. JJ and Emily traded glances and made the unanimous decision that Emily would go smack Morgan while JJ would go after Garcia.
Garcia hurriedly rushed through the BAU area, her target the door and then the elevator. She made it to the elevator and kept jabbing at the button. "Was Garcia crying?" Reid said, bewildered, and Hotch and Rossi exchanged glances before Hotch strode after Garcia. He reached her just as the elevator door opened and she stumbled inside. JJ came jogging up and Hotch held up a hand as he stepped after Garcia in the elevator and the doors slid shut.
"Go away, Hotch," Garcia whispered, sitting down in the corner of the elevator and covering her face with her hands.
"Well, seeing as we're in an elevator, Garcia, I can't really go anywhere," Hotch said, and Garcia muttered,
"There's the next floor, then you can go away," She sniffed, and he hit the stop button on the elevator so it halted and Garcia glared up at him. "I hate you."
"Yeah, sure you do," He said, rolling his eyes as he sat down next to her. "Are you going to tell me what Morgan did?"
"Oh, why not? JJ and Emily were trying to get me and Morgan to go to that ball thing together, and when he asked me he was like 'since I've got no one else to go with, will you go with me?' and I couldn't believe his audacity! He waltzes into my office and all but expects me to go with him just because he couldn't find a real date. The nerve of that man! He thinks that I can't find a man who might like me ask me to the ball because I'm me, not because I'm a last resort!"
Hotch sighed and patted her knee gently. "He's a jerk, Penelope, and an idiot. I'm sure he didn't mean it like he said, he just wanted to keep it casual since he doesn't want it to be,"
"Don't you dare defend him," She said, getting to her feet and hitting the start button so the elevator continued to move.
"All right, I'm sorry," He apologized, and she pulled him to his feet.
"But thanks, Hotch, you did make me feel better," She said with a bright smile.
"Good." Hotch replied with a small smile as he watched her walk off, obviously still angry at Morgan.
The Christmas Ball was in a few days, and though Morgan tried his best to apologize, Garcia wouldn't have any of it. Eventually he cornered her after work one day and he said, "I know you don't want to listen to me, but just hear me out for 2 minutes, okay?"
"I'm timing you." She replied crisply, looking down at her watch.
"I'm sorry, Penelope, about what I said when I asked you to the ball. I wanted to keep it casual because I didn't want you thinking that you had to just because I asked you. You were actually my first choice, baby girl, but I was an idiot and I dragged my ass until Emily and JJ got it moving. I know you're going with Kevin, and I just want to ask if you'll save one dance for me,"
She eyed him for a long moment and then smiled, saying, "Of course, my Chocolate Adonis, I believe I still have some room left on my dance card,"
He sighed in relief and wrapped his arms around her, saying quietly, "I really am sorry,"
"Oh, I know, and you're forgiven. But that's twice you've pulled a stunt like that, sugar, once more and you strike out!" She said sweetly and he chuckled.
"All right, mama, I'll be careful. Got any plans tonight?"
"Nope, Kevin's working late. What've you got in mind, hot stuff?"
"Well, I was thinking," He led her off towards the elevator and they made plans for a movie and popcorn night at Morgan's place.
Finally the Christmas Ball arrived, and when Kevin went to pick up Garcia, she wasn't ready. He stood in the living room, complaining, "You're never on time, Penelope, I can't take you anywhere without being late! I've really got to impress my bosses tonight if I want to get back in their good graces after the whole leaving-and-coming-back fiasco, which would've never happened if you had just gone with me! We would've been an unstoppable team, with you backing me,"
Garcia just tried to block it all out as she finished her makeup, grabbed her purse and walked out. "Well? How do I look?" She asked, twirling for Kevin.
Penelope Garcia was a knockout in a satin red dress that had short sleeves and fit snugly against her skin all the way down to above her knees. Her blonde hair was swept up into an elegant up-do with a few curled tendrils hanging around her face. She ditched the glasses for the evening and put the contacts in that she was getting used to. Her make-up was flawless, and it should have been, considering the twenty minutes she had spent on it. In the spirit of Christmas, she had a green bow in her hair, she was wearing green heels, her nails were painted green and the green purse she held in her hands completed the ensemble.
"You'll do," He said in a clipped tone and hurried her out the door. "You look like a mess in that dress, Penelope, couldn't you have chosen something a little more appropriate? Never mind, you don't have time to change. Do something with your hair in the car, will you? And you forgot half of your makeup," He criticized on the way to the Ball.
"All right," She said quietly, having learned that it was better to let him steam on without contradicting him.
When they walked in, he groaned and said, "You can't be on time even if it would save your life. Everyone's already here, we're so late,"
They walked over to the BAU table and Garcia smiled, seeing Hotch and Emily, Reid and JJ, and Morgan and Rossi were sitting alone without dates. JJ waved to Garcia and mouthed, "Sit next to me!" and Garcia started over towards them Kevin pulled hard on her arm and said,
"We have to sit with my bosses, Penelope! I told you I have to impress them! Don't be all geeky and start talking about stuff that no one cares about, okay?" He pulled her over towards the other table and Garcia glanced back, seeing everyone at the BAU table looking at her with a mixture of concern, bewilderment and confusion. She tried to shrug apologetically at them but Kevin turned her around and introduced her to his bosses.
Before the food was served, Garcia started telling some jokes and when the food started arriving, Kevin poked her and hissed, "You suck at telling jokes because you always give it away! They're laughing at you, not with you!"
After that, she fell silent, trying not to give Kevin any more ammunition against her. She knew in the back of her mind that what Kevin said to her wasn't true, but when people put you down enough, you start to believe it. He kept telling her how she was making mistakes, and when she tried to fix them, he found something else that was wrong with her.
When they had finished eating, Kevin hissed in her ear again, "You're being boring and moody! God, can I take you anywhere? Go get us some drinks and I'll try to repair the damage you've done,"
Silently Garcia got up and headed across the room. JJ and Emily saw their chance and immediately bolted it over to her, walking with her to the drinks area. "Listen to me, Penelope Garcia, you are beautiful and incredible," JJ said firmly, and Emily added,
"You are funny and irresistible to men, especially a certain Derek Morgan,"
"You are everything the BAU wants and needs in a technical analyst," JJ began and Emily finished with,
"And you are everything that we could have ever asked for in a friend,"
"You guys," Garcia whispered and wrapped her arms around them both. "I know what he's been saying isn't true, but he kept saying it and it just got ingrained into my brain until I think I actually started to believe it," She murmured, and when she drew back, Emily checked Garcia's makeup to see if she had smudged any of it.
She hadn't, so Emily and JJ sent her back to Kevin with a fresh outlook and a feeling of being quite fed up with a certain technical analyst.
"You took too long," Kevin hissed when she sat back down next to him. "I saw you talking to those two BAU agents you know. Honestly, Penelope, I think you should transfer over to my division, those insane BAU agents that really belong in a mental institution are ruining you,"
Yeah, I know, I made Kevin OOC, but in my head I could see him saying this stuff if he went off the deep end and turned mean. Honestly, I think I just don't like him because he's standing in the way of Morgan and Garcia being together, so I made him out to be a bad guy in this story so Garcia could kick him to the curb. Thanks so much for reading and I hope you're liking my two-shot so far!
